Breath, Wind, Spirit

So at one point we discussed the breath of God. We failed, however, to make an important linguistic analysis of the word that was translated breath. The Hebrew for 'breath' is the word Ruach [חר] (where [ch] is pronounced as in Ich or Loch). This same word, however, also means 'wind' and 'spirit.' In fact, it is the same with most ancient languages, including Greek (pneûma, πνευμα) and Latin (spiritus).

What this means for any study of the Bible is that a translator can pick what word he wants and fully justify it in the text, even if tradition and intent is considered different. Thus, whenever the words Breath, Wind, or Spirit in the Bible one must consider whether the translator had any bias (which should always happen with every translated work) and then consider whether one of the other words would be a better fit.